Meta-Researcher

Data for Science Policy: A SWOT Analysis

I’m looking forward to my first ever poster presentation at the Data for Policy conference this week in Cambridge. For once, I’m not really going there to present my research (although I’ll make some references to it), but to advocate for more meta-research.

The take-home message of my presentation will be the following. Researchers are strong advocates of the use of ‘big data’ to inform policy and regulatory decisions – which is great. But if they’re serious about it, they also need to start using big science data to reflect on their own professional practices and update the science policy framework. The conditions have never been better: the research infrastructure is now easier to mine, systems are getting increasingly interoperable, scientists’ behaviours are becoming more ‘predictable’ and there’s a growing awareness within the profession about the costs of low-quality research. Some of the challenges of meta-research will also be discussed.

I admit that I still have a lot to learn in terms of design. Also, I was not able to upload a higher-resolution version on this page, which is why the text is blurry. Hopefully the talk will be more convincing.